


Mood Swings

by AhmedMootaz



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Escaping From Your Sidekick So You Don't Die, Fights, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, In a way, Slice of Life, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24295066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AhmedMootaz/pseuds/AhmedMootaz
Summary: Nothing beats a stroll at night. Something to calm your nerves and clear your mind. Unfortunately for Dr.Drakken, this was not what he was doing this night, following the Middleton Days festival and, more importantly, the Moodulator incident, Dr.Drakken finds himself escaping the grasp of Shego, who was trying to make him appreciate what it's like to be part of the earth. A most perilous night ensues, with fighting, yelling, and dinner proposals.In which Drakken attempts to not become paste and tries calming Shego following the events of the 'Emotion Sickness' episode. Cannon-friendly for the most part.
Relationships: Dr. Drakken & Shego (Kim Possible)
Kudos: 9





	Mood Swings

It was night in Middleton. A nice, calm night with the occasional night cricket sounding its call throughout the night. Oh, there was also the loud, erratic, terrified screaming of Doctor Drakken as he ran like the madman he was and the growling of Shego, once docile throughout this day, as she ran after him to catch up to him. While she hadn't made it explicit, there was this untold knowledge that should she catch up to him...well, let's just say the road-side plants would've had a new type of fertilizer this year.

Of course, Doctor Drakken saw himself as many things, brave, intelligent, bold, brash, devious...the list went on. Unfortunately for him, he was none of these things at the moment, but he _was_ , however, rapidly approaching the speed of sound, something many humans couldn't claim they accomplished in their lives. Of course, he'd never know that, and he may well never know anything else if Shego managed to lay her hands on him that night, a possibility that, much to his dread, was getting ever more possible with every tired breath that indicated to him that his near-sound-speed jog was now going to end very soon and that his sidekick, always the athletic one, was going to have a new red catsuit whenever she snaps out of whatever the Moodulator had done to her.

He thought about that last thought for a second, trying to ignore the pain that was building up in his muscles. How _was_ she going to snap out of this rage episode of hers? At least back when he brainwashed her she stopped when she realized that he wasn't joking about her almost fracturing his femur. It was a very painful moment of his life, but at least she was...Shego at that point in time. She could still negotiate and actually speak (read: yell) after the beating was done. He still hadn't forgotten about that one. It was one of the few times he'd actually had to defend himself by himself from what was basically the strongest woman he knew, and, considering he'd _only_ gotten some bad bruises, cuts, and a few fractured ribs, he considered himself successful.

Still, he wasn't fighting against the rage-fueled beast that was chasing him right now, whose every breath sounded less like a breath and more like a howl. Oh, just _why_ did he have to try and overload the Moodulator?! A thousand ways for this to go wrong and of everything that could happen, he got an angry Shego. She didn't seem to respond well to negotiation efforts, either, if the plasma blast his back got when he offered her a dinner was any indication. Another jolt of pain shot through him as he took a particularly nasty step and he gave is sidekick a small glance to motivate his burning muscles and exhausted lungs, and it worked to some extent, as he felt his movement get just a teeny bit faster the moment he saw the rage that was practically plastered on her face. Now, his mind could rest easy, knowing that he bought himself an extra 7 seconds of life on the face of the earth.

His face tensed and formed a grimace at that last thought. He'd never really seen Shego _kill_ a man, per say, in spite of her many, _many_ threats, but he had this underlying feeling that she could very well execute her threats today on him. Why on earth was she so mad at him, anyways?! What did _he_ do wrong? An entire day of psychological torture and overloading his brain's emotional knowledge and _he's_ the bad guy?!...Well, of course he was the bad guy, but...well...not in _that_ sense...It just wasn't his fault, alright?! An to think that if he squeezed his eyes just a little bit harder, he could've spotted to Moodulator and spared himself...whatever Shego was doing to him throughout the day. 

And then, from the east, something became visible...A lair! A mountain lair, of all things! Take that, Shego! The amount of money he spent to build his far-too-many lairs has finally played in his favor! Evil genius planning for the win!...Unfortunately for Drakken this mental celebration of his didn't last long, for a plasma blast had just barely missed his head, and he swore he felt _s_ _omething_ burn for a split second. As he mentally noted to focus less on celebrating and more on trying to motivate his exhausted, tired, barely functioning legs to keep their super-speed jog, a horrifying thought popped up in his brain.

And then what?

For almost all of his villainous career, the lairs had been places of safety (excluding whenever Kim Possible was around, but it's the general statistics that count), places where he could activate his security systems, hide, or just bunker down while the International Justice organizations fail to penetrate his amazing technology. Not so much now; for all his outstanding effort in staying away from Shego's grip, she was slowly, but steadily, making her way to him, which meant that she was probably going to enter the lair with him and drive him into what was basically a corner. They say being cornered makes one fight fiercely, but he for one never knew who this 'They' was, for second, even if he was a polar bear -he shuddered at the mention of these horrible beasts- he didn't feel like he'd be able to defeat a Shego that was armed with plasma hands and an extremely strong desire to maim and/or kill.

Of course the moment he needs more time to think he starts noticing how close the lair was getting. Typical. As his brain chanted at him, _ThinkThinkThink_ , he tried his earnest to remember how on earth that blasted Kim Possible break the Moodulator's effect. As far as he knew, with no functioning controller, it should've driven her on a massive killing spree, yet when...Spotable? Postable? Whatever his name was, he'd somehow managed to calm that cheerleader down and, miraculously, cause the Moodulator to overclock and fry its circuits. From what little he saw from afar, anyways. He didn't exactly believe in the whole 'friendship beats all' mottoes that the world loved to shove in his face every two seconds, (seriously, how do any of these fools live with themselves with all of the lovey-goody-two-shoes things they do? Bleh.) but then again...if it did help that buffoon, then there had to be some merit to whatever happened...at least, that's what he hoped, because otherwise...well, the ear-splitting hurl he heard behind him was enough for him to know better.

 _Alright, Drakken, the lair is less than a kilometer away. Any top-notch plans to not die?_ , he tried motivating himself, his lungs starting to lose air and his legs starting to tremble from the amount of effort that they were forced to do. Perhaps a conflicting signal in the brain could cause an electrical malfunction if the resistance is so great if produces an equally strong electrical signal which the nerves would try to transmit in spite of the presence of the Moodulator?...On paper, that didn't sound like a half-bad plan. In reality, the truth of the matter is that Kim Possible actually cared for the buffoon, and as such, seeing him a tough spot must've awoken a protection instinct in her _somehow_...Maybe...Listen, he still needed to finish studying the human nervous system for future use, but perhaps that happened.

The issue was, he was dealing with _Shego_. He knew she didn't want him dead when she was in her regular state, and while they did act less hostile these days...that was it. Less hostile. He was barely something that resembled a friend to her, much less someone she'd want to protect without her salary dangling in front of her eyes. B-But...They were friends, right? He considered them as such, anyways, no matter how much she told him, confirmed to him, promised to him that they were barely that, but...well...He had nothing else to try, right?

Not now, anyways. The lair's gates were right in front of him. A few more steps and he'd be inside. Even before his entry he could feel the cool wind's effect dwindling and his body's heat going up, and he couldn't be more thankful for the facial recognition systems he'd installed for the doors to open the moment they see him. The giant, intricate metallic door would've once gotten a nod of approval and arrogance from the blue man, but now all it received was a terrified scream followed by a rage-filled one.

His mind barely registered the red stone walls of the compound, signaling to him that this was the lair he started his day in. None of that _really_ mattered, as he tried his earnest to find a method to slow Shego down. Anything, just _anything_ to stop her from murdering him. He hadn't even dared to look behind him or check that the doors were closed again, all he did was run, though much to his terror he was slow. Slower than he needed to be if he wanted to remain on the face of this Earth, which, surprisingly, was something he wanted to do. His eyes darted in their sockets, spotting a tool-box on a small black table. Expensive equipment be darned, he flipped it onto the floor and almost cried tears of joy when he heard Shego tumble over them with a curse. Of course, regular Shego wouldn't trip so easily. but this Shego had nothing on her mind but vengeance, to the point where she couldn't pay attention to her surroundings. One more thing to note on the 'Things That Will Help Me To Not Die From Shego Tonight' list.

This time, he actually mustered enough courage to turn his back to her, not stopping from a second from his mad dash, which was now leading him to his personal laboratory's black steel doors. She was still getting back up, determined and fierce as ever, while aiming a plasma charge at him. He squeaked and ducked to avoid it, much to the green-skinned woman's rage. Not wasting a even a second to celebrate another moment of being alive, he crashed through the steel doors and then turned on his heels to lock the door with the metal bar behind it. It wasn't much, but it would have to do for now. Not much else to be done, anyways. While the doors were fire-proof, he was certain that in a matter of minutes, Shego's plasma could melt them. A few minutes to think critically, he hoped. No, not hoped he...he stated! Of course, nothing but the best from Drakken!

"Alright, let's review the plans,", he started his thinking process, thinking out-loud to not miss a good thought, "Choice number one, write a quick will and accept your fate.", he cringed as he said it. Really? That was the first thing to come to his mind? Of all the things? "Choice number two...Build a Shego-proof cell in five to four minutes and capture her before removing the Moodulator chip.", a small smile started sprouting on his face, though it wasn't long before it disappeared like a cupcake in his refrigerator. The second part was logical enough, but how on _earth_ was he supposed to set up a Shego-proof cage in less than _five minutes?_

Someone started banging on the laboratory's doors. He knew exactly who it was, she'd been banging on it for a small while now, though he'd mostly tuned her out of his hearing. Now, the sound was much more violent. Much louder, too. He suddenly felt extremely feeble, and somehow massively offended, considering how many insults she was throwing at him. He had no idea what half of them _meant_ in the first place. His mind zoned out for a second before he shook his head violently, focusing again on the plan to not be dead tonight.

-"Alright, choice number three, try using any makeshift weapon against Shego and incapacitate her.", somehow...this felt wrong. Of course, he had nothing that could be used as a weapon, makeshift or not, but as he spotted a sturdy-looking hammer on the floor...the idea danced in his brain for a second. It was going to be a last resort, he decided. He didn't need a furious _and_ injured Shego, much less being the man responsible for the injury. He then noticed that the door was starting to give out from Shego's constant, endless barrage of plasma charges. Not much time left, it seemed. "N-Number...V-Foor...Try to stimulate emotions out of...Sh-Shego...", unfortunately, his stoic demeanor didn't hold, either,and he could barely think about that last thought, even though it was most likely the one of most importance right now.

Alright, this was probably some not-so-great logic, but everyone has to have emotions _somewhere_ , right? So behind that cold, uncaring and violent exterior, she must care about... _something_. He didn't know what it was and if he knew her well enough, he suspected it was intentionally withheld form him. But he should at least know one thing she cares about, right? She was his only good friend, for crying out loud...Well...she didn't like it when he and Eddie tried stealing from a handicapped kid that one time...sure, it was a low blow, but it was in the name of evi-Wait. That's it! He'd just need to play the part of a...handicapped man...tonight...? No, no, no! This was all kinds of wrong! A genius mastermind and not a single good idea! The door was basically on its last knees...A good strategist should be able to come up with a plan on the spot with whatever he has...Of course, he viewed himself as such, but...Well...Perhaps it was time to put that claim to the test. He quickly wiped some tears that were forming in his eyes, wiped any sweat on his forehead, and tried to calm himself as the door started falling from its frame, with each passing second feeling more and more like and hour.

-"DRAKKEN! YOU LOUSY SACK OF FREAK! WHERE ARE YOU!", as expected, Shego leaped from behind the doors, entering the laboratory with a swift athletic move. Her fury could be sensed from a few miles, like heat radiating from the sun. Her hands were already engulfed by her plasma, her scowl twisting her facial expressions and her black hair leaving some strands on her face. She was everything you'd expect from an enraged Shego: Terrifying. She almost seemed blinded by her rage, but a moment later, she spotted the blue man, who was dangerously close to dying his clothes with a lovely new shade of brown. She took a step forward, and he didn't even bother trying to hold his ground.

-"N-Now, now, See-go,", he started trying his hardest not to betray his current tone. If the cheerleader's sidekick could survive the Moodulator, so could he, with some luck and a _lot_ of blessings. He just needed to plan things accordingly. "Listen, I'm sure I did a lot that wronged you tonight, but could we please-"

-"Could we _WHAT_ , Drakken, Mr.I-am-too-busy-for-your-emotions! How dare you! How dare you leave me like this after toying with my heart for an entire day!", she yelled, practically spitting every word in his face. She threw a ball of plasma at him, and he dodged, still behind his laboratory's table. "I do _everything_ for you today and you just leave me?!"

Ah. So that's what this is about. Not that it mattered too much, she'd have still been mad at him for one reason or another thanks to the Moodulator, but now he knew what he was going to get skinned for.

-"What?! No, no, _no_! God, no, there must've been a big, _biiiiiig_ misunderstanding, Shego, b-because I would _never_ do such a thing! I was getting my device ready to bring you the ultimate evil bidding on our....evil date! You love evil, don't you?", _please, please let her still be evil_ , he internally begged. Prayed. Did everything he could to will his thoughts into reality. He tried keeping his ground this time, and for once, the ex-superhero actually stopped her march towards him, as if judging his words.

-"Tsk. Yeah, _right_ , as _if_! You just wanted to make _your_ plan come together, you heartless sack of crap! You never cared about us in the first place!", apparently, the Moodulator has enhanced her ability to find negatives in every positive. Impressive. What was not impressive, however, was the impeding doom that was now marching once more to the mad scientist.

-"No! Shego, plea-", he didn't even have time object, she leaped at him striking him in the chest with a burning plasma fist before following it up with an upper-cut from a burning knuckle. His vision became distorted as he tried to reorient himself, only to receive a swift kick in the ribs. He heard a 'crack' and his brain pulled out all the stops; he already felt the adrenaline kicking in by the time he saw her next move, though it still hadn't masked the burning sensation on his chest and chin. He avoided another skillful kick with a not-so-skillful slide that ended with him on the ground. Looking up at his assailant, he could only muster a scream as she threw a plasma ball at him. 

He rolled to the side, though the projectile still caught up to him, hitting his elbow as he got up. His sidekick closed the distance between the two of them once more, only this time she only managed a punch in the stomach before he pushed her. Again, a regular Shego wouldn't care for a push, but during this frenzy of hers, it managed to tip her off-balance, it almost tipped _him_ off-balance considering he threw all his weight behind it, but he managed to get a hold of himself and head back to the table, taking refuge behind it once more.

-"No! Shego! Don't- Gah!", he screamed as he avoided another blast, "Don't do this! I beg you! Please! Shego, help me!", alright, Drakken didn't really know whether or not great strategists cried for help (literally and figuratively, if the tears in his eyes were anything to go off), but he didn't really have much of an option. Though he _did_ managed to feel the wooden pole of a hammer under the table. He grabbed onto it and looked at his sidekick, and he was thoroughly caught off-guard.

She was actually _conflicted_. Her hands were still on fire, which is what convinced him to keep holding onto that hammer for dear life, but she _stopped_. The frown on her face seemed to slightly...lighten. Her eyes, once filled with rage, were now without focus, seemingly gazing into nothingness. Every second or so, her mouth would open as if to say something, only for her to close it. Odd. Oh so very odd. It was this odd-ness that convinced the blue scientist to start moving closely and carefully to approach his partner-in-crime, still holding onto the hammer but trying to hide it behind his back. A move which was also partially to keep adrenaline levels high in his blood; he wasn't all that excited to figure out what the heck Shego had done to him.

-"S-Shego? Hello...? Listen, I'm sorry for everything that I did, just please, don't hurt me anymore, okay? I promise I'll be a better...person in the future...?", he tried offering an olive branch, but every word he managed was shaky. He was about a meter away from the super-villainess, as he didn't really want to give her a chance to close the distance once more. For a moment, there was silence. Though, it wasn't really a pleasant silence. It was a suffocating silence, a waiting-for-a-cannon-to-fire-at-you type of silence, with the difference being that a cannon would be a whole lot more merciful than Shego. Then, suddenly and without warning she snapped her head to him, earning a squeak from the mad genius.

-"Drakken...?", she asked, looking like it was the first time she'd ever seen him in her life. Perhaps that was for the better right now. Her eyes were...regretful? No, that was impossible, but what else was that? Encouraged by her non-lethal reaction, he took a step forward and was going to say something until her pupils suddenly dilated, her mouth formed a growl her face turned furious. "In the future?! Oh, don't worry about that, machine boy, you'll have lots of time to think about your future!", she yelled, shooting a fiery charge at the blue man, who barely dodged out of the way with a scream. Great. The Moodulator was still affecting her. Just peachy. "You didn't even _try_! All you did was _use_ me!", she administered him a kick which he was too close to avoid, and it got him right in the pancreas. Out of breath, he felt a fist slam into his shoulder, almost knocking him off his feet before turning his head to her and noticing a particularly nasty looking plasma ball that she was charging. "You sad, miserable piece of-"

Alright, call him what you will. Pathetic, weak, gullible, naïve, etcetra...He would cry on the inside, sure, but one thing that he knew he was not, was willing to die tonight. He wasn't really much of gentleman anyways, what was making the hammer meet Shego going to do to his reputation? Learning from his mistakes, he got her right as she was about to finish monologuing, catching her shoulder and slightly touching her jaw. He didn't know how much he hurt her nor how much force he actually put behind the swing, but he knew that whatever saved him was the element of surprise. Her head twisted from the shock, giving him a side-view of her neck. And there it was. The small, tiny, mechanical bug-shaped bugger that was causing all his pain. He hated it with every fiber of his being.

He already knew not to waste time. Immediately closing the distance, he tried to get a grasp on it, only for a hand to grab his wrist. Of course. It could never be that easy, could it?

-"So that's how it is, huh? That's what you really think of me. So you want to play big boy games?", he wasn't scared because of her yelling, no, no, that would be a very large understatement. He was on the verge of terrified tears because of her low tone. "Let's play.", and with that, he felt a slash quickly cut his face, only hitting external part because of his 'fight-or-flight' instinct telling him that the best course of action would be to bite Shego's arm. Wouldn't you know it, it actually made her flinch. He'd have to remember to be as thankful as he could for that instinct. Of course, when he took control of said instinct, he couldn't figure out what to do and just kept clamping his jaw on the green-villainess' arm, earning him a myriad of insults, screams, and he didn't really know if he'd been hit somewhere or not.

As he started to get his schtick together, he gave his partner-in-crime another hammer swing, not too far off from where he last hit her, but catching her jaw again just a little bit more. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to put as much power behind that swing in particular, and as she recovered from the recoil, her hatred seeping through her skin at this point, he could only manage a mere shove. Although instead of shoving her with his hands, he shoved her with...well...himself. Every single fiber in him was thrown at her, and it appears that this erratic fighting style caught her off-guard, allowing him to see the Moodulator once more, and this time, he grabbed it. Well, not 'it', as in the machine, but as in Shego's neck.

His muscles tensed and he tightened his hold, attempting to keep his sidekick still. Obviously, that didn't really work, but through the barrage of slurs and insults, he managed to hold the Moodulator itself. His left had was holding Shego's arm, preventing her from clawing his insides, and he tried blocking her right arm with her body, but that didn't really protect him from the constant fire blasts which he dodged manually.

 _Alright, it's now or never, Drakken, you either get this one correct, or you die._ , perhaps that wasn't the best of encouragements, but in a situation like this, it was basically cheer-leading to him. His right hand tinkered a bit with the electronic device on her, trying in the most science-y way possible to yank it off of her neck. In hindsight, that wasn't the brightest idea he ever had, but he did manage to stop Shego from her murderous rampage for a second, even if the yelp of pain she let out caused him some immense guilt. For...some reason...Well, it wasn't really time to figure out why, the plasma blast that flew right past his left ear was as much indication as he needed, so he tried another maneuver, trying to see if the appendages that were lodged in the ex-superhero's neck were any use. They seemed to budge a little, moving with his hand...perhaps a few precise movements could make them get out.

It was almost like cracking a safe's lock. He was horrible at it, but he _did_ crack them in the end, didn't he? So he must be able to deal with the trouble-maker in his hand with some difficulty. At least, that's what he told himself. He started getting to work, tuning the legs and tinkering with them a bit, sometimes turning them around, all while Shego kept throwing blast after blast and swing after swing at him. He didn't manage to dodge all of her attacks, and he thanked the Heavens her frenzy didn't make her think clearly, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to hold her for long. Heck, he wasn't able to hold her for much longer with how violent she was. Another swipe to his wrist actually connected this time, and the yelp of pain he let out coincided with a small 'click' he heard somewhere. He felt Shego move underneath him, and the only thing that came to his mind was to hold onto the Moodulator for dear life, literally, as he received a good kick that sent him flying backwards. That would've been the breaking point for him if it wasn't for a small, satisfying 'pop' that went off as he was kicked, and the tears of joy that accompanied that sound.

Admittedly, joy doesn't beat being smacked into a wall, but it _did_ slightly lessen the impact so...Hurrah? The smack he took made him take a second to reorient himself, not wanting to be caught on the ground before taking a look at his right hand. Yep. There it was, looking like an ordinary machine with limited capabilities. _This_ is what made Shego transform into a murderous killing machine. Ah, the wonders of technology. In some other time, he would've been delighted with them. Now he was just furious, broken, and on the verge of tears. He debated crushing it in his mind for a few moments before throwing it carelessly in his lab-coat's pocket and his head snapped focus onto his sidekick, slightly expecting her to still be in a frenzy. It wouldn't be odd with his luck.

Luckily for him, she seemed...dazed? She was gazing at nothing in particular, her eyes twitching every now and then, and for a moment, he actually thought she was going to lunge at him, which made him cower back before she shook her head violently for a second, holding it in her hands.

-"...Ughhhhhh...Wh-Where am I...?", she seemed dizzy. Perhaps a secondary effect of having her nervous system tampered with. "Drakken? What the heck happened to this place? Why...Why is it night time?", she inquired as she saw the blue man in front of her, who still didn't really believe she was back to normal. "And...What in the world happened to you? You look like you've crawled out from the latest horror-flick or something...", but after a while, he became convinced. She really was this confused.

-"You...You don't remember anything? Nothing at all?", he asked, a hopeful tone in his voice. Perhaps they could get over this faster than he thought. She didn't need to know _all_ the details. She looked at him like he was a Martian. Her eyes narrowed, as if judging his deteriorating mental health and she rested a hand on her hip.

-"What are you talking about?", she interrogated, and for a minute there the madman would've been happy to say nothing. That was until her eyes widened in shock, making her bring her arms to her face again. "Oh, my God...Oh my God...No, no, NO!", she cried out from behind her hands. The blue scientist stared, his eyes too starting to widen and his small grin turning upside down. He hadn't expected the Moodulator, of all devices, to keep the memories of the affected people. And that meant...oh dear. This wasn't going to be pretty. At least he could take his breath now. A few seconds before the yelling would start.

She didn't...She couldn't have...The memories were flooding back to her...everything...From her behavior in the lab to the photobooth 'session'...she didn't...she couldn't have...She let go of her face. She looked at the scientist in front of her as her mind finished replaying the day's events that led her to this point. She didn't know what overcame her, she didn't know why she did this, she didn't even fully know why everything happened, she only knew it _did_. She wasn't the type to yell or scream or even cry...that was not how she lived, but the only thing she knew how to do was to vent out her anger. She didn't know if it was Drakken's fault and she didn't even know if he deserved what was coming to him. It was the only thing she knew how to do in these situations. The only thing she could do to release some anger.

And so, unbeknownst to the scientist in front of her, her arm moved and met his face, a large 'smack' resonating in the now quiet room. He remained silent, the shock of the slap still settling in, before he turned his head back to her, and he could only remain silent for the time being. Her face was all sorts of twisted. Sadness, anger, fury, confusion...embarrassment? He couldn't pin-point a single emotion, and he could only stare at her as her breathing started going back to normal. Her eyes almost glistened for a split-second, but then they were back to their regular appearance. Must be his mind playing games on him. He didn't really have much to say , anyways.

-"Wh-What the heck, Shego?! That hurt like a doodle! What were you _thinking_?! I spend all night saving myself and getting you back to normal and _this_ is how you thank me?!", alright, the first conversation they share after this fiasco shouldn't have been a yelling contest, but honestly? He was horrible at anything but those when it came to complex things. Things like confronting someone about something or treating people's emotions. But he did know how to yell, and it served him well enough. For the most part. It wasn't his first time he had to yell after an event like this anyways. His voice was shaken with grief; he knew this wouldn't have been exactly rosy, but this? This was humiliating, painful and ungrateful beyond what he imagined.

-"Yeah, well...Well how do I know that this wasn't your idea from the start, Mr.Brainwasher!", she countered, and he grimaced. Again, the ever-looming shadow of the time he brainwashed her has to confront him. Duh, it wasn't the nicest thing in the world, and he did admit that it was pretty horrible to do that to Shego, who, in spite of everything, remained with him during the reconnaissance period with Kim Possible. He didn't really understand _why_ she was so mad at him at first, it wasn't going to be for much more than a day, but back when they had the whole Time Travel thing...Granted, that was twenty years in comparison to the day he controlled her, but he did understand that the freedom of doing what you want was nice. At times. He'd like it if someone controlled him before eating ghost peppers thinking they were harmless. He snapped his focus back to her.

-"I thought we were over this, Shego! I already told you, no brainwashing against your will anymore! If you're _so_ sure it was me, just...just why do you keep working if you know I can do it at any moment?! I don't need any more...any more...hurt!", of course his dictionary would fail him now. Why wouldn't it? The uneasy silence remained for a moment before he broke it. "F-For your information, the Moodulator fell on you in Bortel's lab in the morning. The remote-controller fell into buffoon hands and...well...y'know...", he didn't dare to complete his sentence. He took a glance at Shego's face, and while she still had this indescribable look on her face, her posture had relaxed, at least.

-"...Yeah, back when I tussled with Princess. Makes sense. 'Guess you're not so insane as to bring that onto yourself.", she commented, talking more to herself and less to Drakken, who _really_ started feeling the pain she'd inflicted on him. He wiped his face and less than a second later he didn't dare to look at his hands again. Sure, the wounds seemed to be surface-level, judging from the fact that he didn't die, but that didn't do much to change his...his...blood phobia, fancy science-y names be darned, he had no time for them now. A stiff silence reigned for a few minutes. With nothing to say, what could they do?

At least she seemed understanding to an extent. He hadn't expected her to take his word for granted, but he supposed she, too, didn't know how to handle this mess of day. She appreciated her mental freedom, that much he knew, so it must've been a bit of a shock to her. He wanted to say something to her; she looked like she was deep in thought. What could he do? 'Oh, I'm sorry this happened, better luck next time?' What was he _supposed_ to do? She looked at him as he was having his own internal struggle and started speaking.

-"...Hey...uh...y'know...about today...That... didn't happen, right? It was all exaggerated by the Moodulator, right? It just...amplified the memories, right?", it was Shego who toppled the silence's reign, however, as she tried to find anything to take solace in. Anything, other than that she acted all lovey-dovey with her blue, geek-y, _boss_. He didn't reply, but the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. Mostly the terrified look in them, though. "Oh God...Why...Why did it have to be...Just...", she covered her face again, her voice more angry than sad or upset.

-"Why'd it have to be me.", he continued for her, not looking at her, but instead searching for something to sit on. He found some wooden chair he carelessly put in the lab for whenever his legs failed him. It'd have to do. He sighed. He knew this was going to be her opinion from the start, besides, what did she say which he didn't know? He was rejected by almost everyone he ever met in his life, the last of whom was _DNAmy_ , the crazy scientist girl that was actually...cute. Still, she wasn't exactly Miss America, and yet she rejected him. What was _Shego_ going to do with him? For once, she didn't strike at his ego, surprisingly. He'd done that himself long ago in this front.

-"Wha-I...I mean, yes, but...but...no, listen, it's just...", she tried defusing the situation, but much to her surprise, Drakken wasn't mad or offended, he just...he said a fact. That's what it sounded like. "It's that...that...you're _there_! You're _always_ there! You...It's just...", she never knew she could bumble that much while talking. Maybe Drakken had left an imprint on her. She tried to smirk at her internal mockery, ignoring that her voice cracked a little. What in the blazes happened to her?

-"Ah. I...understand? I...Maybe?", obviously, he never really 'left' after having some fun. Why wasn't she surprised? It was _Drakken_. He couldn't figure out what she was doing on the table in the morning, much less react on it. But he seemed understanding enough. He tried to be, anyways; she could tell he had no sweet clue what she was really talking about, but he understood the very basics. 

The truth of the matter is that throughout her life as a super-villainess, there wasn't really anyone to remind her of her actions, but now that _this_ happened, he'd always be...there. Always in view. One look at him and she'd remember the photobooth 'session' and want to claw both of their necks out. And there was all of her...cutesy behavior today. What if he thought she had something for him? What if he had some hope?...Obviously, that wasn't true. Never. But what if? He'd be the cheesiest person in the world. She wasn't up for that, especially from someone she worked with on a day-to-day basis. She also didn't need any rumors in the Villainous Community about the two of them. They'd be ridiculed for the entire year! A small yelp pulled her out of her thoughts and back to Drakken, who'd just attempted to touch some of his wounds. She stared at him and he noticed her gaze.

-"...Uh...Listen...Sorry about today. Or something.", he coughed, trying his best to address his sidekick, who raised an eyebrow and tried to look uninterested. "I mean...should've noticed the Moodulator faster. And, y'know, try adapting to the emotions it sent you through. I guess. Maybe you'd have been less angry at me then.", he mumbled, almost hypothesizing. There we go. Back to mad science again. He didn't really know why he did this. He just remained silent, unable to follow-up his sentence, but throughout his experiences, he noticed that apologies make tense situations defuse quickly so...worth a shot? He let out another small cry as he rested his burnt elbow on his knee and she sighed.

-"Come on, Doc, you've been through a hundred incidents and you still can't properly apply first-aid.", she walked to the nearest wall-cabinet and pulled out some basic stuff out. Bandages, disinfectants, painkillers and whatever she judged useful. She didn't really want to sound ungrateful, but...what else could she do? Emotional talk just wasn't her forté. She walked over to him and threw the supplies she brought with her on the ground, picking up the least effort-consuming one to use, the disinfectant, and held it carelessly. "Close your eyes.", she ordered, and he could do little but obey. A few protests, but when she started spraying the large slash on his face, he did as ordered. With a lot of whimpering and squealing.

-"Aïe! That hurts, Shego! Can't you do it more gently?"

-"Yes, Doc, I can spray the disinfectant gently. Keep your eyes closed!", she warned as he tried opening them to reply. In a way, this was her way of saying 'thank you'. Helping Dr.D without him yelling for it or being entirely incapacitated wasn't normal between the two of them, even if it wasn't unheard of. She just hoped it would be as discreet as possible. A few more sprays here and there and she'd decided that his face had had enough. He still didn't open his eyes for a few more seconds though, seemingly afraid of being sprayed by surprise. "Anything else left, Doc?"

-"Anything else...? Oh, yes, of course...uh...well, there's my arm, my jaw and I think my stomach got burnt...", he replied, carefully eyeing her indifferent movements. He was mostly basing his claims on how painful his members felt. She took a look at him and sighed. His face was now a strange red from the blood she'd spilled, and she was thankful for the lack of mirrors in this room, lest it trigger a fainting reaction from Drakken. She was more than willing to let him take care of that in the bathroom by himself.

-"Gotta give it to ya', Dr.D, you can certainly take a beating. Lift your head.", she started spraying once more, only this time he didn't really need to close his eyes, sufficing with a quick nod. "I mean, with how much skill you've shown, you might even take over my job!", she exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from her voice like honey drips from a spoon. In all truthful honesty, he didn't do half bad. Considering the fact that, from what she can remember, she was really trying to kill him, he survived well enough. Even if it was because of the hammer. She grumbled a bit as her own adrenaline started going down, rubbing the area where the mad scientist hammered her jaw. She continued spraying, this time aiming for his elbows and basically every part of him that had burnt clothes around it. "Turn you head; you have a burn on the tip of your ear."

-"Yeah, I felt it...", was all he had to say until she finished. "Uh, thanks for that.", he muttered as she threw a box of bandages in his lap before picking up the painkiller bottle and reading the warning labels. He stared for a while before speaking up. "Uh, Shego?"

-"What?", she replied, not lifting her gaze an inch from the label.

-"Do you...do you remember when you stopped attacking me for a moment?", he meekly asked, and she looked at him, trying to remember before giving him a nod. "Why'd you stop? I thought for sure you were going to fire at me.", he continued, still looking at her as she tried remembering herself.

Why'd she stop? She could remember the rage, the anger, the desire to kill, but then it all...paused. For a split second, it really felt as if some unknown force had taken hold of her when she heard Drakken's scream. She concentrated on that last bit. What got a hold of her then? All she could remember was a small, tiny voice telling her not to hurt him. Not to hurt her...friend? That...was something she never thought she'd think. Alright, so they were 'friends', but she did that to please Dr.D's constant begging. She never actually thought it would get into her subconscious. Truthfully, she slightly hated that. Not that Drakken was alive because...well...he was actually fun to have around at times. Like a pet crocodile. But she hated this 'softness' she felt. It was partly the reason she acted so indifferent to him right now; to right the wrong of the softness she felt. She internally grimaced. She'd just admitted to herself that she wouldn't hurt Drakken with no reason because she considered him a 'friend'. Blegh. Again, it wasn't Drakken himself that made her go 'blegh' ( _Most_ times. Maybe.), but this feeling...it just wasn't her.

-"Hello? Shego? If...If you don't want to talk about it I underst-"

-"No, it's just...Listen, when you yelled out I...I couldn't hurt you because you were...Y'know.", she ended awkwardly, moving her shoulders as if transmitting a message. He gave her a blank stare that signaled to her that he had no idea what she was saying. She sighed, bringing a hand to her temple. "C'mon, Doc. You're being daft. I couldn't kill you because...well, I spent a lot of time with you. And it wouldn't feel right kill you.", she tried explaining, and he kept his confused look for a second before something dawned on him.

-"Wait a moment. Are you saying that you actually...you actually think of me as a friend?", a small smile sprouted on his injured face. "I honestly thought for a moment that you only said so because you wanted me to shut up considering...well...everything you...we...Oh, nevermind that! It's nice to know that I have someone on my side, Shego.", he finished, the hopeful smile still on his face as he started applying the bandages with a lot more enthusiasm. So even he saw how artificial she was about it. Good; he wasn't _that_ naïve. That was nice to know.

-"'That you have someone on your side'? Doc, for the most part _I'm_ the one handling Kimmy's kicks, and you're still yammering about having someone on your side?", she asked, narrowing her eyes and jutting her hip to the side while resting her free hand on it. She didn't really like it whenever he tried to tell her that she wasn't doing her job well enough, and this this really seemed like what he was trying to say. Nuh-uh, not on her watch.

-"W-What? Of course I know that, Shego,", he countered, raising his hands defensively. He was in no shape or form (literally and figuratively) ready to tussle with an angry Shego again. "I'm just...I'm saying that you won't just up and leave me one day, yeah?", he explained, and she kept silent, tilting her head a bit in confusion, so he swallowed and continued, "Y'know, when I started this whole 'supervillain' thing the first thing everyone told was to not rely too much on my sidekick because they usually are the first to jump ship when things go south. I heard that one from Dementor, among other people, so I always feared that...well...I mean, you never really liked me when you started working with me so I kinda had this in mind all the time? A bit?", he finished, and she remained silent to judge what he said for a moment. 

He wasn't _wrong_. Shego being Shego, she didn't really have 'friends', mostly colleagues or bosses, and even Drakken's friendship with her was dubious for the longest time. Still is. But she did have a few gal-pals to hang out with every couple of weeks or so who worked as sidekicks with their own villains, and the rates of them leaving their bosses for someone else, sometimes someone they worked with before, were surprisingly high. Back when she'd just left the whole Team Go business, she expected to leave Drakken after six months at most from what she heard and saw. Of course, there were still many loyal sidekicks, but there were also many who weren't so loyal. And sure, she left Drakken every now and again to teach him a lesson or to clear her mind from his constant plans and failures, but after all, she came back, no? Still, nothing was really forcing her to stay, their contract didn't mention anything about having to stay, and even if it did, she wasn't really forced to respect it in any shape or form. So in a way, she understood where he came from. He just wanted to be sure he wouldn't wake up one day and find out that he no longer has a sidekick, and she supposed that their...'friendship' (Gah! She still couldn't use that blasted word!) did, in fact, make her not want to leave Drakken. When he was silent and calm, anyways, which was basically whenever he was falling asleep or just awake. It was better than nothing.

-"...Yeah. I guess I can see that.", she muttered, finishing the warning she was reading. She didn't want to give Drakken an incorrect dose. The mere idea of Drakken getting hooked on painkillers wasn't really something she enjoyed seeing, even if she knew full-well that he'd think he just needed some more medicine to feel better. Honestly, if she didn't see his core (which wasn't very difficult to do; Drakken was basically an open book on his own, and to her, living in his lairs for five days of the week, he basically had his thoughts written on his face), she'd have never assumed that he had villainous intent, but he had _villainy_. Although he rarely if ever showed his threatening side, it was one of the things that made her stay once she realized he had no issues finding the 'bad' in 'bad guy', he only had issues with bringing it out for more than a day or two. "Here.", she grabbed his attention, throwing him two pills, which he caught clumsily. "These should do for now.", she concluded, waiting for him to bring them up to his mouth.

-"...Shego, where's the water? These things taste like my socks after wearing them for two days. You can't expect me to take them like this!", he ordered. There we go. Back to normal. She sighed at his request; Drakken, all things considered, was not a picky eater. He ate things she wouldn't consider approaching, lest they turn out to be radioactive or something, yet when it came to medicine and bitterness? Nuh-uh, gonna need his water or juice for that.

-"I bet you'd know all about what _those_ taste like, wouldn't you Doc?", she snarked, moving over to some water-cooler he had installed in a corner. She snapped some plastic cup off and started filling it up, looking back at Drakken, who looked almost offended. This was just too good. "No...Y-You actually do?", she said, barely stifling her laughter.

-"I'll have you know that I tripped while doing the laundry. The other time was...well...it's not important right now...", he finished, taking the cup from hand, and she profited from the fact that he had his mouth full now to burst out laughing at him. The image itself was hilarious. She'd have to get some details later. She couldn't say that she was too surprised, considering his habit to always have the strangest things happen to him, mostly because of his own actions, but still. Obviously he didn't appreciate it much from her, but honestly, when did he ever? It was a well-known fact that her teasing got to him, and it was mostly the reason why she never stopped. He swallowed and glared at her. "Laugh all you want, but it won't be so funny when it happens to _you_ , Shego...", he mumbled under his breath as she controlled her laughter once more, sufficing with a large smirk.

-"Yeah, as if _that_ would ever happen.", she threw back, waiting for his own back-and-forth, only he hesitated, and when he spoke, it was almost a whisper.

-"Well, whatever happened today would've never happened normally...", she almost flinched. He wasn't one to know when to stop talking about things, was he?

-"Hey, that reminds me, what did you do with the Moodulator or whatever?", she interrogated, giving him an evil eye, but apparently he was too tired to do anything, preferring to dive into his pockets before bringing out the small bug-like device. She observed it for all of two seconds before trying to grab it out of his hands, but much to her surprise, he took it close to him. "Unless you _really_ want to try your luck again, Doc, I would recommend you give me that thing right _now_.", her voice went low, and all the mockery in it now became threatening.

-"W-Wait! Shego, I understand that this...this brings bad memories, but I can reverse engineer it, alright? I think this can help me create some better robots in the future, y'know? The ability to recognize emotions and things like that.", he justified, trying to contain her growing anger. She listened for a second before crossing her arms and giving him a judgemental look. "What?"

-"Yeah, uh-huh, and how am I supposed to know that thing's not latching onto my neck again?", she almost-growled, which drew a strange look from him.

-"What? Do you honestly think I enjoyed getting my bum handed to me this night? Because I didn't-"

-"Not _that_. You know what I mean."

-"Oh, hogwash. Listen, Shego, I'm a scientific genius, whenever I need something like that I'll...I'll figure it out, alright? You saw how well I did with DNAmy.", he arrogantly boasted, almost back to his original self. He was lying and they both knew it, Drakken before Shego. And he hated it. He earned himself a raised eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

-"Really? Dr.D, listen, I'm not supposed to lecture you on that kind of stuff, but you're setting a really low bar with DNAmy. And you got _rejected_ and spent a night crying.", she reminded him. It wasn't a very pleasant night when he got rejected, especially since it apparently struck a nerve with him and he was actually distressed. She almost felt bad for him back then. In reality, he'd never really gotten over it, but he didn't have dreams about it, either, so he didn't consider it a 'failure' so much as a 'plan that went poorly'. "But thanks for helping me get the stupid thing off. Just...never tinker with it unless I'm in the room, capiche?", and with that, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Now she didn't feel like she needed to say something. She still wasn't really comfortable being in the same room as him, especially as their day in the garden was becoming ever so clear, much to her dismay, but in the end, he _did_ do her a favor by not hammering her to near-death and just picking the device off of her neck, right? In reality, _he_ was far closer to death, but still.

-"Don't mention it, Shego, I did tell you that I'd be there for you, didn't I?", he made a gesture with his hand, turning his head to her. It was true; back when she had to work with Team Go again to regain their powers from Aviarius, he went full-sap mode and decided to tell her that he considered them an "evil family" of all things. And if front of her brothers, of all people!...Still, she supposed he made good on that promise, didn't he? He at the very least bailed her out of the whole ordeal back then. Not that she thanked him for it very nicely, in fact, it was one of the few times he'd been legitimately angry after she pulled him back up from the giant mech's foot, but she secretly appreciated it. Better than having to confront her brothers.

-"Okay, Doc, don't go overboard with the sap, we don't need that now of all times.", she rolled her eyes at his proud expression, scoffing at the idea that he was probably expecting some compensation. He looked a bit dejected. Okay, sure, he saved her from an endless anger frenzy that could've ended very badly for her and the Moodulator could've turned back to love mode but...well...Oh, for God's sake. Now she was always going to feel something annoying her, wasn't she? It's not that she felt guilt, she stole a kid's wheelchair, for crying out loud, it was just...uncomfortable. He could've done way worse with her today. She knew he would never, not that he actually _could_ , but...it was nice on his part. Drakken wasn't exactly nice left and right, especially considering how strange their 'friendship' up to this point was, so she supposed he did, somewhat, maybe, deserve some slack. "Dr.D?"

-"What?"

-"Thanks again for getting this thing off me. It could've been a lot worse. Just...", she struggled to find words. Shego was a lot of things, but what she was not, was good with emotions. Not that there were any particular emotions in thanking someone for getting this hellish device off of her, but even then she wasn't sure what to do. She gave him a strange shrug and an extremely awkward smile. It wasn't even a smile; it was half a smirk that looked a little too wide for a regular smirk and had her teeth showing. Not that the blue scientist could care less, really, he just stared at her, not quite believing what he just heard. Yeah, sure, she mumbled out a thanks every now and again, she just did a few moments ago, but never before had she tried making it...sincere. Not like she did today, anyways. His eyes, wide from shock, only blinked for a few seconds before he finally snapped out of it. Good for him, her will to smile like that was quickly dwindling, especially with him just staring like that. What was so difficult about staying quiet and not acting like he just took over the world?

To the madman in front of her, however, this was an event he hadn't imagined happening anytime in his life-span. Alright, _he_ thought of her as a friend because, because...because he was human alright? He had no one else besides him , right? He never really had friends as a whole, but honestly? Only arguing with Shego was, strangely enough, not exactly something he found to be soothing. He needed a bit less violence from her and...He just wanted a 'friend' to have an excuse to ramble on about stuff to someone. The henchmen didn't make for good long-term friends, considering how often he hopped lairs, and most of the Villains in the Villain Community weren't even on speaking terms with him, let alone friendly ones. Shego was always around and she made a...friend. She was his only friend, and he always had a nagging feeling that she was being artificial about it, but in the end, it did seem as if she considered them as pals. That was relieving. And, to an extent, it made him feel better about a lot of things.

-"Uh...Yeah, no problem, it was...y'know. I needed to do it anyways.", he awkwardly coughed. While the former superhero was grateful, only now did she realize how awkward this was. After the yelling was over and the memories were back, she recognized what her mind secretly wanted all this time. Some alone-time in her room. Anything to help her suppress these memories or deal with them. "Sooooo...uh...what do you want now?", he asked, trying his earnest to keep the awkwardness away. He wasn't successful. She didn't even know _how_ he thought it was appropriate to ask that question _now_.

-"I want us to never talk about this in the near-future."

-"What? No, I mean for dinner!", he clarified, apparently taking offense in the fact that she thought he lacked that much tact. She, on the other hand, couldn't blame herself; this was the same man that thought _not_ telling his mother about his occupation was going to be quick, easy, and with no consequences. Heck, even she told her parents, as good-loving as they were, and it was easier to live like that; when everyone knew about her open secret, it was much easier to look them in the eyes. They'd eventually gotten used to it, even, and with how cheesy Drakken's mother was, she knew she'd have found _something_ to be proud of. Even if her initial reaction probably wouldn't be fun to see.

She looked at him for a while, her disfigured smile now transformed into a 'really?'-type expression. He looked lost, and she sighed; after an entire day of 'lovey-dovey', a dinner was _not_ what they needed for everything to be back in order. Granted, they had dinner an innumerable number of times, sometimes in silence, sometimes yelling their heads off, sometimes chit-chatting, but tonight, of all nights, she could do without dinner. She didn't really have much of an appetite, anyways. Still, she was human, and after an entire day of using up energy to be happy with no meal besides that one smoothie she had while threatening him with violence if he didn't take her on a -she gagged- date.

-"What? Oh come on, I know it's not _perfect_ but my cooking sure isn't gag-inducing! At least _try_ to lie to me about what you think about it!", he looked outraged. If he wasn't on the brink of an ER visit, he'd have probably yelled a lot more. She stared at him. Maybe he really was trying to forget about this thing as much as he did. Did he really hate the time he spent with her that much? She thought back to it. Considering she'd threatened him twice with violence and/or death when he didn't return her crazed "feelings", she started thinking that this probably wasn't fun for both of them.

-"No, it's not about that...just...make whatever you want, yeah? I'm not that hungry, anyway.", she replied, starting to feel the fatigue catch up to her after this day's exhaustion. Maybe Drakken had the right idea by sitting their discussion out. "I'll be in my room, alright? I need to...to think about some things, yeah?", she announced, starting to move towards her chamber. She'd always appreciated having a private room in almost all of Drakken's lairs for whenever she wasn't ready to put up with him or, as she now realized, she needed some alone-time. He nodded, apparently afraid to anger her as everything was starting to settle down. And with that, she started dragging herself to her room. Or at least, she was going to, if someone didn't yell at her from her back.

-"Shego!", she groaned, turning her head to her employer. "Do you like pasta with sauce or without?", she stared, then she couldn't help but chuckle. Of course. She didn't expect any less from Drakken.

-"With. It'd just be bland otherwise.", she nonchalantly answered, continuing her journey to reach her room when she received nothing more than a nod from behind her back. So, she was now free to review everything that happened today. If she'd learnt anything about reviewing an idea, it was to summarize it in big, bold letters, and he had a good summary, alright:

What a bloody mess.

There. She said it. Of all the things that could've happened to her, this turns out to be it: getting her nervous system tampered with and having Drakken as the emotional dump. Just peachy. The sadness was already terrible enough; Drakken never saw her get so upset before, much less cry tears, what was she going to be like in his eyes, now? A person with a weak-point, that's what. Drakken didn't look like the brightest bulb in the box, but he sure as hell knew a thing or two about messing with people. He'd tricked Kim Possible into stealing for him once, and the plans he devised were brilliant in their own rights, but the execution was always lacking, and that's an extremely nice and way to underestimate it. She sighed as she opened her room's door and, not paying any attention to her surroundings, collapsed on the bed in front of her.

And then, of course, the 'lovey-dovey'. She yelled into her pillow, slightly cursing such childish behavior, but honestly? She didn't care. Not in the slightest. The anger was, while undeserved, just a normal dispute to Drakken but _this_? This was something that should've never seen the light of day. The feelings in her chest...they were so overwhelming. She could remember looking at him and suddenly thinking 'Wow.' Yeah, as if. He was blue, for crying out loud! She couldn't help but feel a pinch of...something as she berated her boss in her mind. It wasn't his fault, but...it was? He should've known something was wrong! Look at her, examine her! Anything, _anything_ to spare them from what happened afterwards. 'Cuddling'? Cutesy behavior? The photobooth session _dear God why did she have bring it up again_? Everything was just...horrid. Worse still, she knew that in the photobooth, it was Drakken's fear, confusion and disability to do anything in face of such emotional pressure that stopped the entire thing. It's not like it was going to go further, even then she had standards, but the fact that _he_ of all people had more control than her was insulting.

She brought her knees up to her and hugged her pillow. She was a super-villainess, but she also needed some stress-relief. Her eyes watered a bit before she suppressed their reaction. She wasn't going to sink _that_ low. He was Drakken! Her geeky, blue, arrogant boss! He wasn't worth getting so upset over!...Only, it wasn't because of him she was like this, it was because of what they did. Of what he _saw_. And she cried again in front of him in the festival. She'd just remembered. Wonderful. 

The issue wasn't about what happened, it was about facing Drakken again after everything he saw. She always maintained this impression of being with no possible weakness, and it was important to maintain this allure when working with supervillains, of all people, but now...Now it felt as if this allure had received a blow. Of course, if the reactions Drakken showed to her after she recovered were anything, then he still rightfully feared her and did his everything to avoid her wrath, but what if he got bolder? What if he tried finding more weaknesses? More importantly, what if he _found_ something? Her greatest strength was was that even _she_ didn't know any significant weaknesses she possessed, therefore limiting the means by which anyone can know anything about her. 

Yet that's what she feared most. Drakken had _mad_ in his work title, and he sometimes really lived up to the 'mad-genius' he was trying to play. What reassured her he'd never work against her? Ethics and promises aside, what if everything he said got pushed aside one day? As much as she hated to say it, it was part of his villainy, no? She herself didn't respect many promises she made, many of them to Drakken himself, who saw first-hand the effects of such a trait. What if he tried hacking into her mind? Reading it? Exploiting it? She left that bloody machine with him. He had an upper hand, now. And that's something she didn't like. She lifted her head from her pillow again. She gave everything in her mind a quick scan and yelled out:

-"Damn it!"

She let out a long, exhausted breath and brought a hand to her face. Focus, Shego. You're better than this. You'll be able to get over it. Besides...could he go that far with her? She thought about that for a moment. Could he? He had every chance to do anything he wanted with her when he had her mind-controlled, yet the only thing he did was...Play dodge-ball with her and make her look for Dodos while listening to his life story. He had the closest thing to morals a villain could have, and he did, maybe, somewhat...not want to anger her? Any man in his sane mind wouldn't want to anger, but the more she thought about it...Drakken considered her to be his friend. He _wanted_ her to be his friend and...honestly? It made her feel bad for him.

Shego knew herself better than most people out there. Bar her parents, maybe. But she knew she wasn't a good person. She could steal, maim, hurt and probably kill. She mocked anyone she came in contact with, and she treated everyone with the same level of respect: Zero. Nobody wanted to come within eye distance of her, excluding once again her parents and special operations commandos from thirteen countries. So when she realized just how much he wanted to consider her a friend...She finally understood how little friends he had. And how abstract the concept of friendship was to him. How could he find everything she did to him...friendly? He was either that desperate, or he interacted with people so little over the times that he no longer recognizes friendship in its typical meaning.

But honestly? She was...having fun? Was that the way to put it? A large pay and an employer to mock 24/7. And yet...they had chats. Talks. Things of that caliber, that was their 'friendship', and she was more than willing to let it continue like this. Of course, she knew that Drakken, emotional spaz that he was, took things further in his mind, but honestly? Wasn't that something to make her less...worried about him?

Since he considered them as friends, he wouldn't dare to do horrible things to her...right? The first thing that came to his mind after this entire affair was to make them dinner, carrying on with their life. Wasn't that enough proof that he was to be trusted? Or at the very least, that he wasn't so much of a threat to her? Honestly, she didn't know. She worked with Drakken for more than a few years at this point and she still didn't know too much about him, but from everything she saw about him...He was alright. She didn't despise him with all of her heart, and while she didn't like a lot of his actions, Drakken himself was...okay. She didn't feel like he'd try hurting her in the future. She felt...alright with him. Maybe they were friends, after all. Ugh. She really hoped this Moodulator thing hadn't messed with her brain in any other ways.

Then again, what if he was playing her? Should she let her guard down, Drakken would have the perfect opportunity to stab her in her back. She grimaced. _This_ was one of the issues of being supervillains. They both treated each other with the knowledge that both of them have the full right and ability to throw them off the nearest ledge if they needed to. She did, anyways. Drakken? She didn't know. And that's what sent her down this spiral in the first blimming place. A few minutes of thought later, she decided that she was willing to take the risk. What was her life but a bunch of risks she took that went well for her? Besides, the blue scientist had enough opportunities to not only throw her under the bus, but to make sure that bus would crush her. If he wanted to hurt her, she decided, he would've done that when she was mind-controlled and unable to do anything. Or when he had built a giant mecha and she lacked her superpowers. Or whenever she needed him to lend her a hand when she made a risky jump. The list went on.

She steadied her posture and stared at her room. It was nice. Wide, not too colourful and was fitted with her pick of furniture. A few tables, some chairs and a library that was mostly filled with her various magazines. She liked her rooms; never one to like routine, she made her rooms different across lairs. This one was mostly purple-ish, with a few streaks of red. Yeah, sure, waste of money, but what else was she going to do with all of the money they stole if she didn't buy nice things for herself? She smiled as she looked at her bed. It had to be worth at least a six-digit number, and trust her, it was worth it.

She thought about changing her clothes. The current ones stunk after an entire day of running in them and hurling obscenities. She heard something from downstairs and thought about having dinner; she was really starting to feel her stomach pinch. Maybe she needed to give this thing more thought. But for now? Drakken was alright. He'd pay if he tried doing anything to her, though. Now, she'd just need to find something to look presentable in. She was really looking forward to her dinner. Drakken wasn't a bad chef.

In fact, he was the only chef around whenever the henchmen weren't available, which was most of the time. She never knew how he did it, but his food was actually good. Edible. She didn't feel like she _needed_ to eat it, she simply wanted to. She, on the other hand, had a bit of a habit to ruin any kitchen she touched ever since she was little, so she generally avoided kitchens for her own safety. Who'd object to having less work to do, after all? Besides, she cared little for eating burnt balls that tasted vaguely like meat, Drakken actually made things that both looked and tasted like food.

She gave the day and its events another scan before dropping it altogether. For now, she was here to stay. She'd stay because...well...because Drakken wasn't going to do anything too bad to her. She hoped. Also because, she now realized, he'd making her free dinner. Win-win.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaah, quarantine. The perfect time to clean your home, bond with your family, and study for the inevitable examinations that follow. It's also a good time to write stories, as I discovered. But seriously, hello one and all, and welcome to this small one-shot Fanfiction of mine. Here I attempted to get some experience on writing fight-scenes, as my track-record with them isn't the prettiest. I also tried working out dialogue and seeing how I can make it both realistic, slightly comical and true to the source material. I'd like to say I slightly improved.
> 
> Logistics aside, I would like to say that this 'Fic was inspired by kpficprompts on Tumblr and was suggested to me by bcbdrums, who writes some really good things themselves, so do check them out. In any case, it was quite a bit of fun to write; I always had this idea in my mind: How on earth did Drakken and Shego return to the normal after Emotion Sickness? What happened afterwards? How is Drakken not dead and liquefied by the next time we see him? I tried answering all of these questions here while sticking to Cannon, so no declared confessions here, folks, though I did explore things further with the both of them. 'Character Analysis', I believe some call it.
> 
> So the situation itself was simple enough to pick up on, I only added some internal dialogue, though I had to do some brainstorming to figure out how Drakken got the Moodulator off Shego; I mean, he's not exactly on Shego's level in many things, least of all strength. I may have cheated a bit by giving him a hammer, but hey, it was available in the Scene Background. I exaggerated a bit when it came to describing Drakken's escapade, but hey, humour. Suspend your disbelief.
> 
> I quite enjoyed writing the dialogue afterwards. I tried my best to retain the hostility between them, especially after an event of such magnitude, though I also capitalized on the awkward friendship dynamic these two share. I wish the dialogue came out alright.
> 
> In any case, this note and, to an extent, story is long enough as it is, though I need to ask you to leave your thoughts, comments, critiques and anything else as I do truly appreciate them. Until next time, stay spankin', folks.


End file.
